Magnetic, optical and electrical properties of ITO thin films implanted by cobalt ions

Abstract The Co doped ITO samples are prepared by Co ions implanted ITO thin films. The implantation dosage of Co ions is 5 × 10 15 , 1 × 10 16 , 2 × 10 16  cm −2 , respectively. Then the samples are annealed by rapid thermal annealing in vacuum. The structure of the samples is characterized by glancing angle X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The observed dislocation causes the lattice distortion and the interplanar distance becomes larger. The carrier density gradually decreases as the Co ions dosage increases. The optical and electrical properties of the samples are affected by the carrier density. The gradually reduced band gap can be explained by Burnstein-Moss effect. Though the electrical and optical properties are deteriorated after Co implanted ITO thin films, the strength of ferromagnetism enhances as the dosage of Co ions increase.